Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink
| Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Genus: | Scelotes |
| Species: | S. kasneri
|
| Binomial name | |
| Scelotes kasneri V. FitzSimons, 1939
| |
Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink (Scelotes kasneri), also known commonly as Kasner's burrowing skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species endemic to South Africa.
Geographic range
[edit | edit source]S. kasneri is indigenous to the Western Cape coast of South Africa.[1][2]
Habitat
[edit | edit source]The preferred natural habitat of S. kasneri is dunes and sandy soil, at elevations from sea level to 300 m (980 ft).[1]
Description
[edit | edit source]The limbs of S. kasneri are greatly reduced. The forelimbs are entirely lost, and each hind limb retains only two digits.[2]
Behavior
[edit | edit source]S. kasneri is terrestrial and fossorial.[1]
Reproduction
[edit | edit source]S. kasneri is ovoviviparous.[2]
Etymology
[edit | edit source]The specific name, kasneri, as well as the common names, are in honor of J.H. Kasner, collector of the type specimen.[3]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c d Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c Scelotes kasneri at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 18 January 2015.
- ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. (Scelotes kasneri, p. 138).
Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. (Scelotes kasneri, p. 144 + Plate 48).
- Heideman, Neil J.L.; Mulcahy, Daniel G.; Sites, Jack W. Jr.; Hendricks, Martin G.J.; Daniels, Savel R. (2011). "Cryptic diversity and morphological convergence in threatened species of fossorial skinks in the genus Scelotes (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Western Cape Coast of South Africa: Implications for species boundaries, digit reduction and conservation". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 61 (3): 823–833.
- FitzSimons VFM (1939). "Descriptions of some new species and subspecies of lizards from South Africa". Annals of the Transvaal Museum 20 (1): 5–16. (Scelotes kasneri, new species, p. 13).
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